Abstract

Picture yourself diving into a tropical ocean. The sun is bright, and the water is clear and warm. What do you see? Colorful fish, playful dolphins, waving seaweed? Maybe you even see something that looks like a beautiful underwater garden – a coral reef! 

Coral reefs are important habitats for a huge diversity of animals. But sadly, warming oceans and pollution threaten most coral reefs. An example of this threat is actually sunscreen! Oxybenzone is a chemical found in many sunscreens that can harm corals and other animals. But scientists didn’t know exactly how oxybenzone harmed corals.
We set up an experiment to find out how corals and sea anemones (which are closely related to corals) reacted to oxybenzone in the water.